


i'm forever (always by your side)

by CaptainLeBubbles



Series: Gold [2]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: M/M, Not Active Town
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 20:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9402566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/pseuds/CaptainLeBubbles
Summary: He tells himself, sometimes, that it's not so bad not being number one, and if he says it enough, he'll stop noticing the sting every time he's reminded of it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote more about them because I love them. I also love the idea of both of them feeling a little overshadowed by their counterparts.

Bradley made a loudly frustrated noise and crushed the magazine between his hands, twisting it while he made more frustrated noises. A hand on his shoulder made him pause. He turned his head enough to glare at the elf behind him.

“What do _you_  want?” he demanded.

Athletic Man wasn’t put off- he never was. Instead he just gave Bradley that infuriatingly patient smile. “Is everything all right, amigo? You seem upset.”

Bradley let out another frustrated growl, spinning around and thrusting the magazine at Athletic Man, who took it in surprise. Bradley folded his arms and glared while Athletic Man uncrumpled the magazine carefully, hoping for some clue as to what might have upset Bradley so much.

It looked like the latest copy of Villain’s Monthly. There was a huge picture on the cover of a tall man in stripes, dark hair smoothed into a pompadour rather similar to Bradley’s, giving the camera a smoldering look. He looked familiar- Bradley had a few pictures of him on his wall, several with holes where he’d thrown darts at them.

Bradley had stormed over and was kicking a wall, muttering in angrish to himself. Athletic Man opened the magazine, trying to find the cover article.

It wasn’t hard- there was a full spread of photos of him in the center, in among a three-page article about him. Athletic Man gave Bradley another worried glance, and started skimming.

“We Are Number One,” read the article’s opening. “How one villain managed to find a way to make a relationship work with his hero _without_  giving up his villainy-”

 _“Ah_ ,” thought Athletic Man. He rolled the magazine up and tucked it away in his sweater. “Bradley?”

“That’s. BAD. BRADLEY!” he shouted, voice taking on a slightly shrill quality. He was going to start banging things soon- it was there on his face, red and splotchy in the heat of his rage. Athletic Man tried not to look as sympathetic as he felt; that would only make him angrier. Instead he looked away, gaze landing on a student nearby. The student was working studiously on their laptop, ignoring Bradley’s outburst with the ease of long practice.

“I think Jo looks a little tired,” he mused. “Maybe I’ll go suggest that she take a break.”

“Yeah, she probably needs one,” Bradley agreed, continuing to seethe and paying no real attention. Athletic Man turned back to him, now properly worried. Normally Bradley would be tripping over himself to bring her a coffee or an energy drink or something else unhealthy to keep her focused instead of taking care of herself.

“Br- Bad Bradley… will you tell me what’s bothering you?”

Bradley seethed at him a bit more, before gesturing widely in the general vicinity of the magazine. “Why _him_?” he demanded. “According to the article he started dating _his_  hero at the same time w-we- you know.” His face was totally red now, but he furrowed his brow. “So why did they interview _him_? I haven’t given up villainy either!”

Athletic Man said nothing, instead taking out the article and looking at it again thoughtfully. He skimmed through until his eyes landed on a familiar figure in the many images of Robbie. The image was small, rather grainy, and hard to see- no doubt Villain’s Monthly didn’t want to feature full sized images of the good guys unless it was to mock them- but there was no mistaking that mustache.

“Ah, so that’s where Sportacus ended up,” he said, more to himself than anything else. Bradley shot him a look, and suddenly he was pulling the magazine down so that he could look at the page again.

“Sportawho now?”

“Sportacus,” Athletic Man repeated. “The hero- here.” He pointed. Bradley squinted.

“You know that guy?”

“We trained together to be heroes. I haven’t seen him since he joined the numbered heroes.”

“The who?”

“The highest order of elven heroes,” Athletic Man explained. “Only the very best elven heroes are allowed to join. Sportacus was number ten, I believe.”

“I suppose you’re number one or something,” Bradley groused. Athletic Man couldn’t help but smile at the unintentional praise, and he shook his head.

“No, I was not even invited to join. I was unable to meet their standards- they take only the _best_ , you see.”

Bradley opened his mouth to reply, then sneered. “So they snubbed you? How terrible.” He looked down at the picture again, at the grainy photo of Sportacus. For a long time he just stared at it, then he looked up, and his eyes landed on Jo, eating a donut with one hand while she typed with the other. His face split into a gleeful grin, and he turned to hurry over to her, waving.

“Hey, Jo!” he called. “I was going to make a coffee run. Want anything?”

Athletic Man waited until Bradley’s attention was fully distracted before allowing himself to smile. He tucked the magazine back into his sweater, and made his slow, easy way over to join Jo and Bradley, so he could persuade Jo to take a break while she waited for Bradley to return with her coffee.

-/-

Later, while Bradley slept on, body twisted uncomfortably in the covers, Athletic Man got up to get a better look at the pictures of Robbie on Bradley’s wall.

He wasn’t surprised to find a grainy picture of Sportacus there too, a dart hole driven through his face. A slow smile tugged at his lips, and he turned to crawl back into bed, snaking his arms around Bradley’s waist until the other uncontorted and curled up against him, nuzzling Athletic Man’s neck in his sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> When you get indignant on your friend's behalf even though they're not bothered by it themselves.


End file.
